Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Organotypic Tissue Model Systems for Investigating Host-Pathogen Interactions In Vitro
Published on: March 28, 2025
Simplified models of the relationship between health and disease
1University of Oslo Section for Medical Ethics, Oslo, Norway. b.m.hofmann@medisin.uio.no
Abstract:
The concepts of health and disease are crucial in defining the aim and the limits of modern medicine. Accordingly it is important to understand them and their relationship. However, there appears to be a discrepancy between scholars in philosophy of medicine and health care professionals with regard to these concepts. This article investigates health care professionals' concepts of health and disease and the relationship between them. In order to do so, four different models are described and analyzed: the ideal model, the holistic model, the medical model and the disjunctive model. The analysis reveals that each model has its pros and cons, and that health care professionals appear to apply more than one models. Furthermore, the models and the way health care professionals' use them may be helpful for scholars in philosophy of medicine with regard to developing theories and communicating them to health care professionals.
Related Concept Videos
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Concepts of Health and Illness
Dimensions of Health and Illness
Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness, disability,...
Clearance Models: Physiological Models
The organ's clearance rate depends on the blood flow to the organ and the extraction ratio (E). The extraction ratio describes the organ's proficiency in drug...
